Nottingham Heat Heat Winner Gareth Phillips Fri 8th Apr '051st: Gareth Phillips Can you help us find the winner of the Nottingham Heat? We have been unable to contact the winner of this heat from the contact details he gave us on the night, if you know how we can get in touch with him please contact us on 08701 22 11 66.

The Royal Navy has suggested that Richard Cowell, a Weapons Engineer in the service and the heat winner from Plymouth withdraw from the Mr GAY UK 2005 competition. Although he has not been ordered to withdraw or banned from entering, the Navy does not feel that taking part in the final is appropriate behaviour for an officer.

Richard has been in the Navy since he was 21 and has been out since a few months after joining up. The Navy has a reputation for being one of the more forward thinking Armed Forces and were actively recruiting gay men and women at Pride events this summer. Richard is now 25 and has moved from his post on HMS Northumberland to a desk job, though this is unrelated to the competition.

A spokesperson for the Navy has apparently said that the competition is of a sexual theme and therefore not appropriate for an officer. As we are all aware in the gay community, Mr GAY UK is a male beauty competition firstly, and the chance for the country to vote for a gay spokesperson secondly. There is nothing remotely sexual about it. In the same way as Miss World has a swimwear round, as does Mr GAY UK.

Richard is currently unable to speak to the press regarding the competition as he has not been given permission by the Navy. It is unfortunate that he is unable to get his side of the story across. It is hoped that once the Navy realise what a positive role model for the gay community Richard is, they will actually decide to support his entry, rather than try to suppress it.

The Grand Final of Mr GAY UK 2005 is taking place on Friday 18th November 2005 at The Flamingo in Blackpool, and it is hoped that by this time the Navy will have backed down and shown their support for Richard.

TV star Phil Olivier has been confirmed to host the Grand Final of Mr GAY UK 2005 at the Flamingo in Blackpool on Friday 18th November 2005. Phil already has a massive gay following which is set to soar due to the release of his new 2006 calendar which sees Phil looking hotter than ever!

He first appeared on our TV screens as Tim "Tinhead" O'Leary in the soap opera Brookside. He has since appeared on reality show The Games, winning series three and was part of a celebrity football team on The Match.

Phil will be hosting the 14th annual Grand Final which is returning this year to its original home at the Flamingo. The venue is shortly due to close and relocate to a brand new site in Blackpool, which means the Grand Final will be one of the last events at the much loved club.

The 14th annual Grand Final of Mr GAY UK took place on Friday 18th November 2005 at the Flamingo in Blackpool. Richard Carr, representing the Nightingale in Birmingham was chosen as the winner by the public, via phone and text message and also by the judging panel on the night. The judging panel included Lee Otway from Hollyoaks, Chenai from the X Factor, Kemal from Big Brother 6, Carl Austin a past Mr GAY UK winner, Ollie Hawkins editor of Bent magazine and Gabriele Neroni of Manaround.

The event was hosted by Phil Olivier, star of Brookside and champion of TV's The Games. He proved immensely popular with the audience as he took the remaining 15 of the original 25 contestants through their paces. The guys showcased their looks and their talents to the enthusiastic Blackpool crowd with one contestant singing and another even playing the flute.

Richard was followed in second place by Richard Cowell representing Plymouth. Richard Cowell who is a serving officer in the Royal Navy was able to make it to the final despite the Navy requesting that he didn't take part due to his officer's status. Third place went to Jason Smith, who was on home turf representing Blackpool.

Man Around Travel contributed the main prizes, with Richard Carr winning the main prize of an Alternative Holidays trip to Turkey, Richard Cowell winning a week in Man Around's new resort in Italy and Jason Smith winning a week at their Club Tucanes resort in Gran Canaria. Other prizes for the winner included cash, a scooter and underwear courtesy of Calvin Klein.